House training is regressing! (clean, cleaning, adopted, walk)

[GiveMeCoffee]

I adopted an adult dog from a rescue. The dog had been surrendered by his prior owner, but he had clearly been house trained. The dog did not have accidents in our house for the first few weeks that he lived with us. That seems to be changing. Even though we walk him and let him out frequently, my family has been finding urine in random locations around the house. (But somehow, we never catch him in the act). It's not a health problem as per the vet. Any ideas on how to fix this?

[AnywhereElse]

For a starter, limit the areas the dog has access to, and also what are you cleaning the soiled areas with? Do you have any dogs that "visit" and run about the house? Is this dog the only pet in the house? Has anything changed in the household as far as who is there or not there? Also, how long have you had the dog at your home?

Maybe describe the dog's day as far as if someone is always home and who is there with the dog. I think you need to elaborate on the situation.

[Parnassia]

When a new dog arrives in a new home people usually fuss over them, pay a lot closer attention to them and are more likely to spot "indiscretions" in less trafficked areas of the house. The dog was more insecure for those first weeks and less likely to explore or expand territory too. As the dog settles in it becomes more confident and the house becomes its new turf. At the same time, the attention people pay to everything it does tends to ease off.

It could be you need to refocus for a while to reinforce the message that the entire house is subject to the same rules all the time whether anyone is there to notice or not. Keep him with you (on a leash if necessary). Maybe NILF (Nothing in Life is Free) approach would help too if he tends to be a bit pushy. Maybe as his confidence increases so does the push. The dog wants something? He needs to earn whatever it is by acknowledging your rules and your authority in a nonconfrontational way.

https://dogmatters.com/nothing-in-life-is-free/